volunteer to help search for Leadbeater’s Possum

Would you like to help search for Leadbeater’s Possum in the wild and be part of a long term ecological monitoring project run by Professor David Lindenmayer of the Australian National University? Then we could use your help with some stag watching evenings this summer.

In this program volunteers are taken out to one of the 166 ANU research sites across the Central Highlands forests. Each volunteer is given a “stag tree” (old, possibly dead and decaying tree that has formed nesting hollows) to watch for 30 minutes before and after dusk. As the forest darkens you sit quietly and hope to see or hear a glider or possum appear from one of the hollows on your stag. At the end everyone comes out of the forest to discuss what they have seen and do some further surveys with a spotlight. Hopefully you will be very lucky and see a Leadbeater’s Possum! Find out below how you can get involved!

Join the 2013 Summer Stag Watching Program!

1: Casual Weeknight Stagwatching. Summer & Autumn in 2013.

If you are interested in participating in the casual weeknight stagwatching please forward your email address expressing your interest to Lachie McBurney Lachie_mcb@hotmail.com. Lachie will email details out to everyone on the list at the start of each week, detailing which nights stagwatching will be on.

In addition to casual weeknights Professor Lindenmayer and his research team is conducting a “Stagwatch Week” running from the Monday 25th February – Friday 1st March 2013. They need as many volunteers as possible for the week, so if you are interested in being involved please forward an email to Lachie McBurney lachie_mcb@hotmail.com. Please type “Expression of Interest in Stagwatching Week” in the subject line – this will make it easier for Lachie to differentiate between the two events.

Additional Information:

Volunteers for these events are required to walk in and out of dense vegetation and/or burnt forest sites, sit under a large stag tree for up to an hour as the sun sets, then walk back out of the bush after dark. Your observations of any wildlife activities heard and/or seen in/on/or around your stag tree will be recorded by the ANU ecologist on the night. All training and instructions are provided on the night.